Bringing UHN technology to market

Technology Development & Commercialization

Who We Are

We are the team at University Health Network (UHN)—Canada’s largest research hospital—that facilitates the transformation of research innovations into medical products that improve health care. Located in the heart of Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District, the office of Technology Development and Commercialization (TDC) is ideally positioned to collaborate with researchers, clinicians and biotechnology and medical device entrepreneurs in Canada and beyond.

What We Do

We work with scientists and clinicians at UHN to create new intellectual property and advance it towards licensing, research and development partnerships, sponsored research agreements, and new company formation. Our team has extensive experience fostering and identifying technologies with sound commercial potential, managing the intellectual property protection process, and connecting the UHN community with industry and venture partners.

Commercialization at UHN

TDC supports the commercialization of UHN research innovations. As Canada’s largest research hospital, the scope of research and complexity of cases at UHN have made it a national and international source for discovery, education and patient care. UHN's four hospitals and five research institutes employ over 1000 researchers who, along with their staff and students, work across almost 1 million square feet of research space and secure annual research funds that exceed $380 million CAD.

Research and commercialization across these research institutes spans the full spectrum of diseases and disciplines, including cancer, cardiovascular sciences, transplantation, neural and sensory sciences, musculoskeletal health, rehabilitation sciences, and community and population health. Learn more about UHN's research areas, life-changing scientific breakthroughs, and Research Institutes.

UHN Inventor of the Year

TDC sponsors this annual award which recognizes UHN researchers that have demonstrated excellence in translating their findings into new technologies, services and products that improve health. Award selection criteria include the degree that the team’s invention has advanced the state-of-the-art, its market suitability, ability to bridge the gap between research and development, and potential impact on quality of life and patient care.

These inventions, along with the many other cutting-edge research innovations made at UHN, demonstrate the world-class creativity and impact that UHN researchers are having on the global health care community.

The Toronto Advantage

The Toronto region is home to the largest geographic concentration of health sciences assets in Canada, with strong connections to other health research centres globally. Combined, this network represents a thriving Human Health and Sciences (HHS) cluster with high potential for growth and ability to lead as one of the world’s top HHS clusters.